Summit Racing High Output Alternator - A Powerful Solo

Installing a high-output, one-wire alternator from Summit Racing.

To simplify the wiring and provide enough power for future electronic upgrades, we will be installing a Summit Racing 140-amp alternator. It is an internally regulated unit with a one-wire hookup, which means we can toss out the old external regulator and clean up the wiring in the process. The alternator (PN SUM-G1669) sells for $179.95, which is a pretty good deal for this upgraded part considering if you needed to replace the factory alternator and regulator that will set you back anywhere from $71 to $130 and it won’t put out any more power than factory, which is 61 amps for most of the muscle cars.

Let's face it: Cars have become reliant on computers, sensors, and all kinds of electronic devices. Even the simplest Chevy out there has been upgraded in some way, from a simple HEI distributer to an electric fuel pump. While these upgrades typically make the car better, they tax the factory power supply—aka the alternator.

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We looked to Summit Racing for one of the company's 140-amp alternators that will provide plenty of juice. This alternator is an internally regulated, one-wire design that will still bolt right to the factory brackets and is something very simple to wire in. The new unit is in an updated case compared to the stock unit, and with the new case come some great improvements like a larger rectifier to handle higher amperage, a wider stator and rotor, and larger cooling holes at the back for better cooling of the rectifier, stator, and other internal components.

High-output alternators have been available in the aftermarket for a while now, so the prices have come down considerably. We have a car in the shop that will be receiving a slew of upgrades in the future, including electric fans and a decent audio system, and the first thing we want to do is put an alternator in place that can feed these power-hungry upgrades. We have even created a small chart to show you some of the more common components and what kind of power they take to function. Using the chart you can start to see why higher-amp alternators are out there.

Our project Monte Carlo True SStreet is nearing the 8 second zone and before we continue we began to install the 10 point roll cage we got from S&W Race Cars and got our hands on safety equipment from Summit Racing Equipment - Super Chevy Magazine » Read More